Dear Carl,
I feel your pain--literally. About five or six years ago, I was walking the two miles between my Skagit County house and my job in Lyman. On a sidewalk right in town, I heard hurried footfalls behind me. With no warning, no bark, no growl, a German Shepherd ran right up and bit me on the buttocks. The owner came out and said, "Sorry!" That was it. I told him that "sorry" was not enough, and walked on.
I contacted the town and the county. I told them to tell the guy that I wanted to see a rabies vaccination document within 24 hours, or I'd take legal action. The vaccination document came to me in less than 24 hours, and was in order. It turned out that this was the second time the dog had done this; in a similar manner, it had bitten a lady who'd been walking along the sidewalk, minding her business.
If I had it to do over again, I would have sued the $#%#.
The best part of the story was when I got to work, ten minutes later. I told my boss, the principal, "You know what, Scott? This is probably going to be the first time one of your teachers has ever asked you to accompany him to the men's room, so you could take a photo of his buttocks!" He did exactly that. I got shots of the torn trousers and the bloodied flesh, just in case it would come in handy for the court case which I was considering!
Yours truly,
Gary Bletsch
On Sunday, September 18, 2022 at 11:33:18 AM EDT, Carl Haynie <hayncarl at gmail.com> wrote:


Hi Tweets,


I wanted to warn you all about a particular dog on Neal Road in Fall City. Neal Road has become a popular birding destination. For the last several years, an American Redstart or two have been spending May-July along this dead end road, and between Nov and Feb of this year, a Golden Eagle has been found as well, just to name two rarities.


The road is also a popular destination for families to walk and bicyclists to ride while enjoying a wonderful combination of farmland and native riparian habitat along the Snoqualmie River.


On Friday, while walking on this road, two dogs came running out from behind the house at 2506 Neal Rd SE and onto the street barking and confronting me. This is precisely near the area where two redstarts were found this year. The dogs both bolted up to me barking loudly, and one of them, a large german shepherd type one, decided to take a bite out of my left elbow despite my attempt at acting calmly and slowly walking forward (I stand nearly six feet and had a scope strapped to my back; the only other time I can remember getting bitten by a dog was when I was a kid). The other dog looked to be a Labrador mix (all black).


The owners saw the bite happen and called their 2 dogs back but they never rendered aid or asked about my condition. While hoofing it back to my car and my first aid kit, I stopped briefly at the next door neighbor who told me I was the second person she had heard of that got bit by that dog.


This house at 2506 is not fenced and the dogs just ran into the road and attacked me as I attempted to walk on the opposite side of the road from the house.


So, I've reported the dog to King County Animal Control, case #A22-005026. I got treated for the wound a few hours later at Kaiser Urgent Care in Bellevue. No stitches but antibiotics for a week and careful monitoring for infection issues. 


Last I heard the owners were expected to get a knock on their door yesterday with a check of the dog's vaccination record and a stern warning for the owner who'll be told to keep the dog inside for 10 days. Apparently, my incident was the first one formally reported, so I elected not to grant animal control the more drastic option they offered me: a $500 fine to the owners and to have the dog added to some 'list' to be potentially put down later if it happens again(?) … or something like that!


Be careful out there, my friends. Birding can be a dangerous hobby.


Carl Haynie

Sammamish

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